MICHAEL MCKEOWN

AM PHIBIAN

The word amphibian derives from the ancient Greek (amphíbios), with amphi meaning ‘two’ and bios meaning ‘life'. Although formerly used by zoologists to describe any animal that could live on water and land, including seals and otters, the term is now reserved for animals of the three orders: Gymnophiona (caecilians), Urodela (salamanders), and Anura (frogs), with the latter group comprising almost 90% of its 8,000 known species.

This project, a 29-minute audiovisual sound piece entitled Am Phibian, highlights the shared

etymology of amphibian life and ambient music in its name. The work itself attempts to explore deeper connections between the two concepts, using ambient music as a tool to navigate the life cycle of a frog, focusing on the development of sonic characteristics and the acoustic environments that they inhabit.